Every day someone asks me to join their new online gang. They don’t call them gangs, of course. The buzz word is network. For sure some of the invitations have genuine merit. But most of them are just about gangs, set up to serve the leader’s agenda, rather than real networks of mutual interest.
Because when you look beyond the ostensible purpose of some new gangs, hunger, greed and vanity seem to be the real drivers, rather than sharing and mutuality.
Such gangs are not always easy to spot, unless you spend a little bit of time to test their substance and value, before subscribing.
How do you tell whether a group is just another gang or a really valuable network?
Here is my rough and ready checklist for evaluating gang and network integrity:
- Is the gang trying to piggy-back on someone else’s brand/ credentials?
- Have the group founders got genuine substance, or have they just jumped on a bandwagon, for which they have no substantive claim to a driver’s license?
- How will the proposed benefits of the group/ gang fit in with what I do and the limited time I have available?
- Do I really understand my own motivation for joining up: real value/ enjoyment or merely perceived personal aggrandisement?
Online gang invitations are like metropolitan buses, miss one and there will be another one along soon enough. So look very closely at the gang leader before you join up. If you like what you see, then chances are your gang membership will probably be mutually beneficial.
